Cousins By Blood, Brothers By Heart
by InvidiaTheVampire
Summary: Short story based on the relationship of Verzweiflung and his cousin Khalee Lah. Verzweiflung and his father are c of me. Khalee and the Yuuzhan Vong c George Lucas.


He would be young at his age when he first met his cousin and far too young to even be under the wing of his own father as well, but the decision had been final. His cousin, being only six years older then him and still under training from his crèche parents would only look on with rather disgusted and envious eyes to see him.

"Hello, cousin." The young one would say happily, tapping his cousin slightly on the new implant on his arm. "I'm Verzweiflung. What's your name?"

"Shoo! I don't want your failure infecting my new implants!" he told him and Verzweiflung looked on with contempt and confusion to hear this.

"What do you mean? I haven't failed yet. My daddy is showing me how to fight like you and uncle." He tells him and he looks back with a small smirk coming across his slightly tattooed face.

"Really now?" he asks and Verzweiflung nods quickly with a small grin. "Well, my name is Khalee. It's been rather…nice meeting you dear cousin…" Khalee said, trying to hold back the words of resent in his voice. Verzweiflung only nodded and look back to his father, who had been watching by his side with cold yet expressionless eyes. They then leave and training would begin again…

Ten years later and Verzweiflung had finally celebrated his seventeenth birthday. His cousin, now a great warrior and influence to his own cousin, would develop a close relationship to each other as if they were brothers instead of cousins. Although the other was far older then his teenage cousin, both of them had some odd understanding for each other. Khalee, hearing the familiar sounds of his uncles yells and complaints would cause him to check out this problem as he had before. Slowly he entered the small membrane chamber and quietly snuck himself over to a darkened area of the chamber, not wanting to be seen or heard by his uncle or cousin. There he saw Verzweiflung, weeping and raising his bruised arms over his face as if he were trying to protect himself.

"You've shamed me! You've shamed your own people! You've shamed the gods as well for this pathetic act of yours, boy! How dare you challenge the gods' will for us?!" he heard his uncle snarl after hearing a loud snap hit against flesh.

"Please f-father! Forgive me! I-it was only a misunderstand--!" he heard Verzweiflung's words being cut off with another snap and Khalee would shutter slightly to hear this. _Something had gone terribly wrong…_ He thought to himself as he tried to fight back the feeling of protecting his cousin from his uncle, knowing that if he revealed himself into private chambers he too would be looked down on as if he had shamed his own father. So, he waited and listened in on this conversation about what had happened. "F-father please!" Verzweiflung cried, but he only hear another snarl once again.

"Do not call me father anymore, boy! You have no right to call me father anymore! For now on you are to call me fearsome one or sir, am I clear?" Verzweiflung's father asked angrily.

"Y-yes f-f-fearsome one…" Verzweiflung answered quietly and his father turned away and head for Khalee's hiding spot. Seeing this, Khalee quickly moved out of the membrane door and stood outside, acting as if he had just gotten there to report something to his uncle. His uncle soon headed out and saw Khalee standing next to the door, keeping a rather cold hearted expression on his face.

"What are you here for, Khalee?" he asked, looking down at him with the same expression.

"I am here to visit my cousin if it is alright with you, fearsome one." Khalee answered without even giving a short glance to his own uncle.

"Yes, you may visit the boy. I have no use for him anymore." his uncle replies, now walking down the hallways of pure darkness ahead of him. After his uncle was out of site, Khalee quickly rush into living chambers and quickly fall next to his weeping cousin's body to check on him. Verzweiflung quickly let out a violent flinch and clawed Khalee across the face, leaving long freshly made wounds that began to trickle with blood. Khalee did not react to any of the pain his cousin had inflicted on him, but he simply grabbed hold of his cousin's hand and hold it tightly in place as Verzweiflung quickly turned to see who it was.

"Khalee!" he shouted, changing the expression in his face from frightened to surprised. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" he cried, pulling back his hand as he began to crawl away in fear. But Khalee only looked on and followed Verzweiflung, grabbing hold of his armored leg and pulling him towards him to avoid Verzweiflung to run away. "S-stop it, Khalee! Just leave me alone!" he cried, kicking his leg about to get lose from Khalee's bone crushing grip. "Khalee! Please!" Verzweiflung begged as he now fell back into the arms of his cousin, but it would take a little more then a simple tug to get him top stop. "N-no! No! Leave me alone!" Verzweiflung grunted, elbowing Khalee in his chest and stomach for him to let go but he held on tightly as he ignored the pain inflicted on him. Verzweiflung then punched his cousin slightly under his chin, now making him let go a little for him to make a run for it. Khalee groaned a bit in pain, but he held it in and grabbed hold of his cousin's arm, now pulling him back and making him sit right in front of him. Verzweiflung tried to fight back against this pull, but the bruises on his arms were hurting him even more and he was beginning to feel tired and weak from this fuss. He felt no other urge to try to fight back, but to just give in and see what he wanted with him.

"Verzweiflung," Khalee called quietly, now loosening the grip around his cousin's arm and he looked back with a saddened expression as tears rolled down his bruised face. "What happened? Why are you like this? I've never seen you so upset like this." Khalee asked, moving closer to Verzweiflung with his hand still wrapped around his arm. Verzweiflung only looked at his cousin with teary, red eyes and whimpered a bit as he tried to speak but it would only send him further into tears then words. "Verzweiflung?" Khalee called once more, now placing his large hand on his cousin's shoulder. Feeling this, Verzweiflung began to sob out in his solemn cries as he fell back into the comfort of his cousin's arms, holding him tightly as if he were afraid of something. "Please tell me what's wrong? You're beginning to frighten me cousin!" Khalee stated as he too held his cousin tightly in his arms.

"I-I've failed, Khalee…I truly h-have…" Verzweiflung answered, hiding his face deep into the armor and shadows of Khalee's arm and there he looks on with confusion to hear this.

"What do you mean you've failed?" Khalee asked and there Verzweiflung's head jolted out of the shadows to look back at Khalee with saddened and angry eyes.

"I've shamed my father! I've shamed my people and my religion! I've shamed the gods themselves! Don't you see, Khalee! I've failed to be a son to my own father…" Verzweiflung sobbed, falling over to the other side to grieve in his own pain and misery.

"How could you have done this? Your body has not even rejected one implant and you fight well. How is it that you've shamed our own society if I have seen nothing wrong with you?" Khalee asked and Verzweiflung pointed over at a small metallic like object at the far end of the chamber. Seeing this, Khalee quickly walked over to the object and picked it off the ground for inspection, only to find that it had been a piece of a droid that was forbidden from there world. "A droid?" Khalee asked, looking back at Verzweiflung with the droid still in his hand.

"Yes! Now leave me alone and shame me as well! I am no longer a part of this family anymore! I've become shamed!" Verzweiflung sobbed, giving Khalee a teary glare in rage. Hearing this, Khalee only set the droid back down to its spot and walked back over to Verzweiflung with a slightly sadden look drawn across his scarred and tattooed face. He then sat back down next to his cousin, opening his arms as Verzweiflung looked back at him in confusion and sadness to see this. He knew what this gesture meant and he did not want to loose this opportunity before his father had come back and ruined it all for him. He too opened his arms and fell deep into the arms of Khalee, hugging him tightly as Khalee had done the same to comfort his younger cousin. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. Verzweiflung had not been aware of the dangers of bringing technology into his world and he had learned the hard way. It wasn't his fault he had done it in the first place. Khalee knew that Verzweiflung had been taken away from his crèche-like years of training and it would affect his outlook on the outside world just as much as the inside would. Khalee knew it all, from the beginning of his own mother's and aunt's death to now. He knew it all. It was as if the gods had set a path of destruction for the two of them to tear them down, but the two of them have fought to become something better. They were here, alive and well but dying for approval. Both of them, hungry for the words of pride and joy from the ones the loved the most. Khalee knew his cousin's pain just as Verzweiflung knew his. It was all there. "I'm sorry, brother…" Verzweiflung cried quietly, hugging Khalee once more before letting go to look at him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for you too brother." Khalee answered back, also letting go to face Verzweiflung to look him in the eyes as well. They both saw it and would always see it again whenever looking in each other's eyes. Pain would always be there, but it could never break the bond between the two cousins who've called each other brothers. They were more then cousins, but brothers. They knew everything about each other like brothers would and cared for each other as much. Though they were cousins by blood, they were brothers by heart and everyone knew it all by soul…

*END*


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